En 1994 estuvo en Rosario por primera vez como asistente de dirección de la Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of the New England Conservatory. El público presente aquella vez recuerda muy bien el sonido maravilloso de esa orquesta juvenil. Unos años más tarde Cohler volvió: Cuando vine por primera vez al Festival en Buenos Aires, el que organiza Andrea Merenzon y lo encontré a Eugenio Zeppa , nos conocíamos del Festival en Río de Janeiro unos años antes, él me dijo “tenés que venir a Rosario” y yo le dije ya había estado en Rosario, así que me invitó, vine y pasé Buenos momentos, y continué viniendo porque la gente ha sido grandioso y el público también.

El 25 de Agosto tocó junto a la Orquesta de Cámara Municipal de Rosario en el Teatro El Círculo: fué grandioso, el público maravilloso, todos doctores, pero les gustó. Yo reo que aquí fué estreno el concierto de Copland. El escribió esa obra en los años 30 para Benny Goodman, y realmente la escribió en un viaje por Brasil, por eso la segunda mitad del concierto es muy brasileña, tiene muchos ritmos sincopados y se parece mucho a la música del Brasil, es una obra divertida, tiene muchos elemntos del jazz y en la apretura hay algo parecido a un pas de Deux, dos personas bailan juntos suavemente, uno es el clarinete y el otro el arpa y las cuerdas.

Ud. Está en uno de los centros musicales más importatnes del mundo supongo que encontrará diferencias entre enseñar allí y aquí….
Jonathan Cohler: Yo creo que muchos quienes estudian música aquí son muy dedicados y muy jóvenes se deciden por la música, aman la música, viajan largas distancias para estudiar, trabajan duramente. En EEUU la mayoría estudia con alguien cerca de su casa porque hay muchos profesores por todas partes en cambio aquí por ejemplo Constanza y su compañero, ambos vinieron de Córdoba para la clase, viajaron cinco horas en bus, o Eugenio que a menudo viaja a Buenos Aires, toma un ómnibus y en el mismo día emprende el regreso. Creo que aquí son muy dedicados, cuando se deciden por la música se comprometen.

Qué clase de cosas se pueden enseñar en estas clases más allá de los aspectos técnicos?
J. C. : La música está toda relacionada con la expresión y si uno quiere puede tocar la notas y el ritmo pero las notas son menos importantes. Son otra cosas la que hacen a la música. Yo uso este ejemplo: uno puede tomar una pieza de música y cambiar las notas y seguir siendo la misma música. La expresión es lo que se hace con las notas , en una clase de música uno debe poder tocar las notas y el ritmo, pero si eso es todo eso no es hacer música …

¿Es más difícil sacar resultados técnicos o expresivos?
JC: La expression es mucho más difícil de obtener, la mayoría de los maestros y estudiantes focalizan en obtener las notas y el ritmo y muy poco en obtener expresión. Por ejemplo este dúo de Córdoba, fué todo acerca de la expression, ellos podían tocas muy bien ls notas pero había muy poca expresión es por eso que todo el tiempo trabajamos cobre las rases musicales haciendo algo con ellas.

Supe que está gradudado en Física en Harvard. ¿ Hay alguna relación entre la Física y la Música. ?
JC: Yo creo que mucha gente que son Buenos en física y matemáticas son también buenos en Música, hay una correlación porque se usa la misma parte del cerebro. Si uno quiere ser buen músico debe ser bueno contando, subdividiendo y tomando matemáticamente. Hay muchos científicos y físicos que han dio buenos músicos también. Yo lo note en la escuela……pero la gente cree que la música es creativa, y sí lo es, pero no solo es creativa también debe ser disciplinado. Muchos se acercan a la música y creen solamente en el lado creativo de lo artístico, sin embargo sin disciplina no funciona.

English Version :

Jonathan Cohler, recognized internationally as a virtuoso clarinetist, has visited Rosario each year since 2002. That means a very good chance for the young clarinetists who attend his masterclasses, some of them coming from Córdoba and Santa Fé . This year, the day after his successful concert at Teatro El Círculo, he gave the class at the Escuela de Música Municipal “J. B. Massa”. During the break, he told us about dedication, expression and Physics and Music.

Born in Boston, Mr. Cohler began his musical studies at the age of six and his teachers were the best Boston Symphony Orchestra clarinetists. Today he is an active chamber musician and conductor. He collaborates frequently with many well known musicians and ensembles. He is a member of the clarinet, chamber music and conducting faculties of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

In 1994 he was in Rosario for the first time as the Assistant Conductor of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of the New England Conservatory. The audience who was there in that Youth Orchestra´s concert remembered the sound of that orchestra very well. A couple of years later Cohler came back: When I came the first time for a Festival in Buenos Aires (he refers to Andrea Merenzon’s*) and I saw Eugenio Zeppa *, who I actually met him a couple of years before that, in Río, when I was playing in a Festival there, and he told me: “ You have to come to Rosario”… and I said I had came to Rosario years ago with the Youth Orchestra, so he invited me and I came and I had a great time and keep coming back here, people is great, the audience is great

On August 25th he played with the Orquesta de Cámara Municipal de Rosario at Teatro El Círculo (celebrating the 50th Aniversary of an Insitute of Cardiology): It was great, the audience was big and wonderful, all doctors, but they loved it and I think it might be the Première of the Copland concerto here in Rosario. Copland wrote this piece in 1930s for Benny Goodman, and he actually wrote it while he was touring in Rio de Janeiro and so the second half of the concerto is very brazilian, it has lost of syncopated rhythms and likes the music of Brazil, it’s a fun piece for Goodman so it has lots elements of jazz, and the opening is something like for a “pas de deux” in a Ballet, like two people dancing very slowly together, one is the clarinet and the other is the harp and strings…

You are in the one of the most important musical centers I suppose you find some differences between teaching here and there……
Jonathan Cohler: I think many people who study music here are more dedicated and may be for the younger age they focus on music more. In the USA we don’t have as many people deciding on musical career at a young age, so I think people here work very hard and they love music and they travel long distances to study, in the US most people study with somebody nearby their home because there are a lot of teachers all over the place, but here for example, Cosntanza and her friend, both came from Córdoba to master class, five hours on a bus , or Eugenio

often studies clarinet in Buenos Aires, he takes the bus there and back in the same day, so I think people here are very dedicated the ones who decide it music are very committed to do it.

What kind of things can you teach in these classes apart from the technical aspects ?
JC:Music is all about the expression and actually if you have to be able to play notes and rhythm but the notes are the least important. It is all the other stuff that makes the music. You can take them. I use the example of: you can take a piece of music change notes or not, and still have been the same piece of music… so the expression is in what you do with the notes, in a class of music you have to be able to play the notes in the rhythm accurately, but if that’s all you do is that, you’re not making music…

Is it more difficult to obtain expression or techincal results ?
JC: The expression is much more difficult to obtain, most teachers and students focus only on getting the notes and the rhythm and very little in expression. For example that duo from Córdoba was all about expression, they could play notes and rhythm quite well but very little expression, that’s why I spent all the time working on have the shape of the phrases making something else with them.

EN: Reading about you, I knew that you graduated in Physics at Harvard´s, what’s in common between playing clarinet and Physics?
JC: I think that many people who are good in Physics and Maths are also good in Music, there is a correlation because it’s the same part of the brain is used. If you want to be good in Music you have to be very good at counting, subdivision and taking mathematically, and so many scientifics and physicians have also been very good musicians too. I noticed at the school ……but people think of music that is creative and it yes, but music performance is not only to have to be creative you have to be very disciplined, and too many people approach music so they think that to be artistic on the creative side they think that to be artistic without being disciplined ……that doesn´t work in music

Andrea Merenzon * an argentinian bassoonist
saw Eugenio (Zeppa)* a young argentinian clarinetist